Ammunition to fight against us Rom. 13. ult Make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof 2. We make our Table a Snare when by our Importunities we urge others to eat and drink more than they desire or their Natures will well bear It is unquestionably lawful for a man sometimes to exceed in his Provision for his Friends but lawful at no time to exceed the bounds of Sobriety and Moderation himself or to solicit others so to do The Royal Example of Ahasuerus an Heathen King the Spirit of God has Recorded to the shame of many that call themselves Christians Esth 1. v. 7 8. When he made a magnificent Feast for his Princes and Nobles he commands that every man eat and drink according to his own pleasure and that none be compell'd 6. Let every one labour to understand what is most conducible to his own Health and let that be the ordinary measure of his Diet both for Quantity Quality and Time It is every Mans Duty to observe the Temper of his own Body and to understand his particular Constitution in order to the preservation of Life and Health that a healthfull Body may be Assistant to a holy Soul in the Service of God 7. Often consider with thy self what a sinning Sin what a Beastly sin and what a Destroying sin the sin of Intemperance is 'T is an In-let to all Sin and for that Reason perhaps is not particularly forbidden in any one of the Commandments because it is contrary to them All Drunkenness may be called a breach of every one of the Commandments because it disposes men to break them All What sin is it that a Drunken man stands not ready to commit Fornication Murther Adultery Inâ—est what not and how doth this Sin transform a man into a Beast â—nd make him the shame and Reproach of Humane Nature Of the two it is much worse to be like a Beast than to be a Beast The Beast is what God has made it but the Drunkard is what Sin and the Devil has made him Add to this that the Intemperate man is his own Tormentor yea his own Destroyer as appears by the many Diseases and untimely Deaths which Surfeiting and Drunkenness daily bring upon men For as Temperance and Sobriety is the Nurse and Preserver of Life and Health so excess in either is the occasion of Self-murther 't is like a lingring Poyson which tho' it works slowly yet it destroys surely Consider lastly That Intemperance is a sin which a man cannot presently Repent of as soon as he has committed it A Drunken man is no more fit to repent than a dead man and what Assurance has any man that when Drunkenness closes his Eyes over night that he shall not open them in Hell-flames next Morning How many thousands have closed their Eyes in a Drunken fit and opened them in another World 8. Think it neither unlawful nor indecent to intermingle innocent and harmless mirth with your Eating and Drinking but always remember to keep within the Bounds of Modesty Decency and Sobriety It is certainly a melancholly Reflexion that the thing we call Society and Conversation the Gentleman and the Christian Mirth and Religion should be thought inconsistent that men to fly Preciseness must run into Debauchery and Prophaneness Cannot sourness and moroseness be banisht Converâ—ation but must Modesty and Sobriety be banisht too Must our Entertainments of one another at our Tables administer either to Sin or to Sullenness Surely it is possible to observe the Rules of Conversation better without running into either Extream A vertuous and wise man at his Table may let his Tongue loose in a harmless Urbanity but at the same time he scorns to come within the Verge of a base Scrurility Eph. 4.29 Let no filthy Communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of Edifying As touching Intemperance and Excess in Sleep Necessity Cures most of you that are Poor of this Evil and it may be happy for you that it doth so for how many thousand Hours have some that are Rich to account for which were spent in a sinful Excess of Sleep and Oh how earnestly will such Persons shortly wish for those Hours to spend over again which were thus Consumed 1. Let Prudence direct you about the Measure of your Sleep and Piety instruct you to mind the Ends of it which are the repairing of Nature the refreshing of the Spirits the supporting of our frail Bodies which continual Labour and Toil would soon weary and wear out but now a moderate Degree of Sleep best serves these Ends namely to fit us for Business and enable us to Serve God by an Active Obedience 2. Often Consider what a great Time-waster Sleep is and that there is no part of your Time so totally lost as that which is Consumed in Sleep for all that Time a Man's Reason lyes idle and buried all his Wisdom and Knowledge is of no Use or Advantage to himself or his Neighbour 3. Remember how very injurious Immoderate Sleep is both to thy Body and Soul To thy Body in filling that full of Diseases and making it a very Sink of Pernicious Humours To thy Soul by bringing a Stupifying Dullness on its Faculties and thereby rendring it unfit for Holy Services 4. Remember also the grand Importance of the Business of your Souls which lyes continually upon your Hands and let the Consideration of the greatness of your Work rouse and raise you from a Bed of Sloth If you have a Journey to go or some extraordinary business to do you can rise Early at a particular time why not then every Day when you have much greater Business to do for God and your Souls 5. Remember that your Morning-hours are the Flower of your Time and that early rising makes at once both the Body healthful and the Soul holy The Morning is the best time for enjoying God and our seves then are our Spirits fresh and our Hearts free from Worldly Cares 6. Believe your self certainly Accountable to God for the Time you spend in Sleep this will make you with Holy Hooper sparing of your Sleep more sparing of your Dyet and most sparing of your Time CHAP. V. Of Glorifying God in our Civil Imployments and Labours of our particular Callings ALmighty God has sent no Man into the World to be idle but to serve him in the way of an honest and industrious Diligence He that says Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy says also Six days shalt thou labour either with the Labour of the Mind or of the Body or with both Riches and a great Estate will excuse none from labouring in some kind or other in the Service of our Maker for he that receives most Wages surely ought to do some Work 1. Labour to Understand and be thoroughly sensible how much you are beholden to God for the Benefit of a Calling Thousands are now Blessing God in Heaven for the
8. v. 34. Who is he that Condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh Intercession for us St. Matth. 13. v. 41 42. The Son of Man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things which offend and them that do Iniquity and shall cast them into a Furnace of Fire where shall be wailing and weeping c. IV. Concerning the Way and Means to obtain Salvation by Christ 1. That the way and means appointed by God for the Sinners Salvation thro' Jesus Christ the Redeemer is by Faith Repentence and sincere Obedience So saith the Apostle Eph. 2.8 By Grace ye are saved thro' Faith Acts 11. r8 Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life Heb. 5. v. 9. Christ became the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that obey him 2. That saving Faith is a Grace of the Holy Spirit wrought in us by the Ministery of the Word Whereby we do in our Understandings Assent to the Doctrine of the Gospel as true and with our Wills embrace it as good And according to that Revelation do depend upon the merits of Christ alone foâ— pardon of Sin and eternal life on such conditions as the Gospeâ— has assured them upon Rom. 10. v. 10. With the heart man beliveth unto Righteousness St. John 6. v. 68 69. We believe and are sure that thou art Christ the Son of the living God to whom shall we go thou hast the words of Eternal Life 3. That true Repentance consists in an hearty Trouble and Sorrow for sin past In an humble acknowledgment and Penitential Confession of sin both past and present but chiefly in such stedfast Purposes and Resolutions against sin for the time to come as do produce Actual Reformation and Amendment of Life 2 Cor. 7.11 Ye sorrowed after a Godly sort what carefulness did it work in you yea what indignation yea what fear yea what vehement desire yea what revenge Isa 55.7 Let the Wicked forsake his way and turn c. 4. That Repentance being a real Change and Reformation of our Lives to defer it to a sick bed and a dying hour puts the Soul upon a mighty hazard it being then impossible to know the truth of our Repentance when we want time and opportunity to make tryal of the sincerity of it St. Mat. 3.8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for Repentance Isa 55.6 Seek ye now the Lord whilst he may be found and call upon him whilst he is near 2 Cor. 6.2 Behold now is the accepted time 5. That Sincere obedience consists in a conformity of Heart and Life to the Word and Will of God from an unfeigned Love to God and a sincere delight in keeping his Commandments Psal 40.8 I delight to do thy will oh my God yea thy Law is within my heart Acts 24.16 Herein do I exercise my self to keep always a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards all men 6. That the Obedience of the best of Christians in this Life when at the best is but imperfect attended with much weakness and accompanied with manifold imperfections which yet upon our humble acknowledgment God will graciously pardon and for Christs sake mercifully accept Job 9. v. 20. If I justifie my self my own mouth shall condemn me If I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse 2 Chr. 30.18 19 20. The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God tho' he be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah and healed the People 7. That no Obedience is sincere but that which is Universal and causes us to have an abiding respect unto all Gods Commandments to obey them and to all Christs institutions to observe and follow them Psal 119.9 Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy Commandments St. Mat. 28.20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you 8. That the great Commands of God are to Love him with all our Hearts with all our Souls with all our Strength and to love our Neighbour as our selves Matth. 22.37 38. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart c. This is the first and great Commandment and the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self 9. That the great Institutions of Jesus Christ under the Gospel are his Word and Sacraments to wit Baptism and the Lords Supper which he Commands all his Disciples and Followers most Religiously to Celebrate until his coming again unto Judgment St. Math. 28. ult Go teach all Nations Baptizing them c. And lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world 1 Cor. 11.26 As oft as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come 10. That Baptism is a holy Institution of our Saviours for the benefit of Believers and their Seed Wherein by the outward washing with Water in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost it signifies the Spiritual washing of the Soul by the Blood and Spirit of Christ from the guilt and filth of sin Eph. 5.25 26. Christ loved his Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleatnse it by the washing of Water and the Word 11. That the Lords Supper is an holy Ordinance wherein by Bread broken and Wine poured out the death of Christ is shewed forth and all the Benefits of his death are Represented Applied and Sealed unto Worthy Receivers 1 Cor. 10.16 The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Commmunion of the Blood of Christ c. 12. That the end of this Ordinance is to be a Memorial of Christs Death To strengthen our Faith in him To encrease our Communion with him To be a Spiritual Banquet wherein we feed upon him in order to our Spiritual nourishment and Growth in Grace 1 Cor. 11.26 As oft as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye shew forth the Lords death till he come 13. That all such as are truly penitent for sin past and holily resolved against sin and for a new life for the time to come tho' their Grace be weak their doubts many and their fears great yet ought they often to come to this Heavenly Banquet for Spiritual strength and inward comfort St. John 6.51 I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven if any man eat of this Bread he shall live for ever 14. That it is the duty of every one who would be a Worthy Receiver of the Lords Supper to prepare himself thereunto by previous Examination and to make proof of his Knowledge Faith and Charity and so to eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup. See 1 Cor 11.28 But let a Man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup. 15. That the danger
for the time to come so direct sanctifie and govern both my Heart and Life in the Ways of thy Laws and in the Works of thy Commandments that in all my Thoughts Words and Works I may ever seek thy Honour and Glory and may so Order my Conversation aright that at Death I may see the Salvation of God Prepare me for a sick-bed and fit me for a dying hour let not God be a Stranger nor my Conscience a Terrour to me when I come to die but do thou mercifully assist and succour me in my last Moments In the hour of Death and in the Day of Judement Good Lord deliver me and conduct me safely to thine Everlasting Kingdom I Bless thy Name Oh Lord for that good Providence of thine which has brought me to the Light of another day do thou so prevent me with thy Grace so direct and assist me by thy Holy and Good Spirit that I may not run this day into any Sin or Temptation that I may not follow nor be led by any Worldly and Carnal Lusts but be enabled in my place and station to perform my Duty to thy Self and my Neibour with such Care Fidelity and Chearfulness as may be acceptable both to God and Man I humbly commend this Church and Nation to thy merciful Care and Protection Let our Gracious King and Queen live in thy sight and rule in thy fear and let all their Subjects fear God Honour their Majesties and Love one another Assist all thy Ministers in their hard and difficult work and follow their endeavours with thy Blessing particularly his who labours amongst us in the Word and Doctrine Pity all in an afflicted Condition Pardon their Sins and supply their wants Remember all my Relations for good requite the kindness of my Friends pardon and forgive my Enemies and Enable me to forgive them also These Mercies with whatever else thou knowest to be needful for me and all Mankind I humbly beg in the Name and Words of my Blessed Redeemer saying as he has Taught me Our Father c. An Evening Prayer for a Private Person MOst Holy and ever Blessed Lord God! the Father of Mercies the Fountain of Goodness and the Author of all Grace I desire again this Evening to bow before thy Mercy-Seat to adore and praise thy Glorious Majesty for thy Gracious Care and Providence over me the day past Pardon unto me most Merciful Father I most humby Beseech whatever I have committed or omitted this day contrary to my Resolutions and Obligations Pity my weaknesses and accept my sincere endeavours to serve and glorifie Thee Wherein I have been wont to slip Lord help me to be more Watchful where I have been careless and negligent let me use greater Diligence and Circumspection help me more sensibly to groan under this Body of Sin which I carry about with me and which so interrupts me in thy Service that when I would do Good evil is present with me And oh that the Sense of that Corruption which I find stirring in my Soul may cause me more earnestly to implore the help of thy Blessed Spirit which alone can enable me to Mortifie all Evil and Corrupt Affections to deny all Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Raise up my Heart and my Affections above this World and the things below and place them upon thy Self and the things that are above oh help me to Realize the Things of Eternity and another World to my Mind and to believe them as certainly as if I saw them with my Bodily Eyes Hear Oh Lord and Answer the Supplications and Prayers which have been put up unto Thee by any of thine this day on the behalf of this Church and Nation Oh that Peace and Happiness Truth and Justice Religion and Piety may be established amongst us for all Generations Secure the Persons of thy Servants King William and Queen Mary from all attempts of Violence and let that hand be for ever withered which shall be once stretched forth to hurt the Lords anointed and let all that are in Authority under them execute Judgment and Justice impartially to the Punishment of Wickedness and Vice and to the maintainance of thy True Religion and Godliness Let all that Minister unto Thee in Holy things endeavour both by the Purity of their Doctrine and the Piety of their Lives to win many to a Love of Holiness and Religion that they may shine as Stars for ever and ever Pity all those that are in a worse Condition than my self supply their wants out of thy abundance and work in me a readiness of Disposition to administer to their necessities according to my Ability Accept my Thankful returns to thy Majesty for all thy Mercies for the Fountain of them all the Holy Jesus for all the invaluable Benefits of his Incarnation Death and Passion Resurrection Ascension and Intercession for the Gift of thy Holy Spirit for the Light of thy Glorious Gospel for all the Comforts and Conveniences of Life afforded to me which many Better than my self are deprived of for thy watchful care and good Hand of Providence over me this day Receive me into thy Protection this Night sanctifie my Rest and keep me from sinning against Thee upon my Bed and let the natural repose of my Body put me in Mind that e're long I must sleep in the Bosom of the Grave and awake no more 'till the Morning of the Resurrection for which solemn hour good Lord prepare and sit me and all Mankind by a renewed frame of Heart and a Religious course of Life for thy Mercies sake in Christ Jesus who has both directed and commanded me when I pray to say Our Father c. A short Hymn for the Evening NOw from the Altar of my Heart Let Incense Flames arise Assist me Lord to offer up My Evening Sacrifice Lord Watch and Ward when I shall sleep I humbly Thee implore Thine Angels let my Guardians be Both now and evermore Into thy hands do I commit My Spirit which is thy due For why Thou hast created it Yea didst Redeem it too Lord if I live let me be thine Thine also if I die Come Life come Death let Heaven be mine Amen Amen say I. CHAP. XI Of Reading the Holy Scriptures THE Holy Bible being a Letter wrote unto us by the Finger of God himself what is our Reading of it and daily Conversing with it but a Communing with the Almighty and making an inquiry after that Revelation of his Will which his Wisdom has been pleased to make unto us How stupendious then is the Folly and Impiety of those who either lay the Bible aside as a neglected Book or else read it carelesly irreverently unattentively without an honest simplicity of Mind to be guided instructed and directed by it To prevent the Sin and danger of both which neglects it will be our Wisdom to resolve with our selves to redeem some time every
and Obeyed Consider also That if thou art a Doer of God's Will he will be a Doer of thine he will make as much of thy Prayers as thou dost of his Commands John 9.31 If any Man be a Worshipper of God and doth his Will him be heareth What a Priviledge is this to have God's Fiat set to all we ask 8. Be careful to take an Account of thy self after thou hast heard the Word Preached God has indued man with a noble Faculty of Self-reflection he has a power of calling himself to an account for the several Actions performed by him Now when a Christian after hearing of the Word Preach'd is found in the Exercise of this Duty frequently and faithfully interrogating his own Heart what he has heard and how he has heard it is a good Evidence of his Sincerity both because First It is a secret Duty And Secondly A searching Duty This is not the Hypocrite's Walk who desires not to search himself nor that the Word should search him he is for taking all upon Trust and nothing upon Tryal And having called thy self to an account in Secret how thou hast heard the Word in Publick what Benefit thou receivedst and what Assistance thou enjoyedst call likewise thy Family if thou hast any under thy Charge to give thee an Account what they have heard and how they understand endeavouring to inform their Judgments aright as to the Nature of those Divine Truths they have heard and praying with them and for them according to the Directions given before Chap. 8. Page 29. CHAP. XIII Concerning the Lord's-Supper THE Sacrament of the Lord's Supper being one of the most Tremendous Mysteries of the Christian Religion and the highest Act and Exercise of Religious Worship he must be unthankful to Christ and unjust to himself that does not warily attend his Soul in so sacred an Homage Therefore that I may Assist you in a faithful Preparation for this Ordinance and excite you to the frequent Participation of it I shall briefly dispatch the following Severals 1. I shall acquaint you with the Nature of this Ordinance 2. Inform you of the Ends of its Institution 3. Lay before you the Obligations which are upon you to frequent it 4. Answer the several Pleas made by many for the Neglect of it 5. What Preparation is necessary to fit you for it 6. What Directions may be useful to assist you in it 7. How we ought to manage our Deportment and Behaviour after it 1. Concerning the Nature of this Ordinance Know that the Lord's Supper it is a Spiritual Feast appointed for a Solemn remembrance of Christ's Death and to be a Seal of that Covenant which God has made with us in Christ The Use then of this Ordinance is two-fold 1. To be a solemn Remembrance of the Person and Passion of our Holy Lord to excite us thankfully to call to mind all that Christ hath done and suffered for our good and in our stead in order to the inflaming of our Affections with Love unto his Person and our Wills with Resolution to obey his Precepts 2. 'T is a Seal of the New-Covenant or Covenant of Grace which God has made with us in Christ in which Covenant he has assured us of Pardon of Sin and Eternal Life upon the Conditions of Faith and Repentance Almighty God Seals to us in the Sacraments and assures us that he for his part will make good his Promises and we Seal on our part to him that we will endeavour by his Grace enabling to perform the Conditions This is the Genuine Nature of the Lord's-Supper 2. Now as touching the Ends of this Institution and the special Reasons and Purposes for which it was ordained by our Saviour they are such as these 1. The renewing of that Solemn Covenant with God which we entred into at our Baptism when by the Piety of our Parents we were Dedicated to the Lord and took an Oath of Fidelity unto Christ the Captain of our Salvation to become his faithful Souldiers and Servants unto our Lives end Now because our Infirmities are many and our Covenant-Breaches too frequent that we may not want a merciful opportunity to bewail our Backslidings and to renew our Covenant this Ordinance was appointed 2. Another end is to Remember the Love of our dying Redeemer in laying down his Life for us St. Luke 22.19 This do in Remembrance of me In Remembrance of my Bloody Sufferings in Remembrance of my Bitter Death and Passion 3 To Seal up unto us the Pardon of our Sins and the Assurance of Everlasting Life St. Matth. 26.28 This is my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the Remission of Sins Christ assures us of Pardon on his part if we perform the Conditions of Faith and Repentance on our part 4. Another end of this Ordinance is to fortifie the Soul with power to resist Sin and to get the Victory over it yea to mortifie and subdue it That our Souls being as Giants refresht with this Spiritual Wine all the Enemies of our Salvation may fall before us and we may be more than Conquerors over them 5. The last but not the least end of Christ in Appointing this Ordinance was for the Uniting all the Professors of his Holy Religion together in the strictest Bond of Love and Charity 1 Cor. 10.17 We being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all partakers of that one Bread That is as many grains of Wheat united together as one Mass or Lump do make one Loaf of Bread so Christians tho' many by the Death of their Saviour and by partaking of his Supper are Spiritually incorporated into one Mystical Body and should labour to be of one heart and of one mind 3. Next let us consider the Obligations which lie upon Christians to Attend upon Christ in this Ordinance now these are especially two namely an Obligation of Duty and of Interest First We lie under an Obligation to frequent this Ordinance in Point of Duty and Obedience to our Saviour's Command especially if we consider what kind of Command it is namely the Command of a Sovereign the Command of a Saviour the Command of a dying Saviour 'T is a Command of Love a gracious Command Eat and Live 'T is a pleasant easie and honourable Command What more pleasant than a Feast What more easie than to come to a Feast What more honourable than to Feast with a King yea with the King of Kings In a word 't is such a Command the due Observation whereof will help us to keep the rest of God's Commandments better it will be an efficacious means to make you do well Finally 't is a plain positive express Command from which nothing can discharge us but a Countermand from Heaven which we must never expect or an impossibility of doing it for want of Opportunity which we cannot plead Secondly We lie under a super-added Obligation to the practice of this Duty from a tie
a borrowed Chamber in an upper Room in the Evening only to Twelve Persons and those Twelve Men yea Twelve Ministers and in a Coat without a Seam To keep thus strictly to Christ's Order in the use of this Ordinance I assure you is so far from being a Duty that it will be your sin But 2ly As to the Garment worn by us in the Administration why should a matter of such indifferency discompose thy Thoughts at such a solemn time Look you to your self that you come cloathed with the Wedding Garment of Repentance Faith Love and Joy and if there be any Evil in Colours in a White Garment more than a Black one he that wears it or the Authority that enjoyns it shall Answer for that and not you 3ly As to our using a Form of Prayer in the Administration know that all the Reformed Churches throughout the World have done the like the Church of Geneva not excepted for the Spirituality of Prayer doth not consist in an extemporary fluency of Words but in the Intention of the Mind and Devotion of the Soul if we pray in Faith with Humility with Holy Fervency with Humble Resignation we certainly pray by the Spirit tho' with a Form of Words before us and on the other hand if we pray without the forementioned Dispositions our Prayers are formal and unacceptable tho' we pray without a Form Lastly As to what is scrupled about Kneeling 1. It doth not clearly appear what Gesture our Saviour used when he celebrated this Ordinance the Scripture is very silent about it from whence I infer that had it been our Saviour's mind we should follow his Example in this Circumstance we should not have been left in the dark concerning it 2. Suppose it were Sitting this being but a Circumstance of the Action we are no more obliged to follow it than the other Circumstances of Time Place Habit c. 3. Let it be considered how far the Church of England has protested against all Adoration of the Elements so that they who suspect us Kneeling to the Bread and Wine do shew themselves to be either grosly ignorant or greatly malicious But because this is the highest Ordinance we attend upon Christ in and we receive the greatest Benefits by the Ordinance we are capable of on this side Glory even a Pardon Sealed from the King of Heaven which we would not receive in any other posture than upon our Knees from an Earthly Prince and forasmuch as the Sacrament is delivered to us with Prayer we judge it the most suitable Gesture for such a solemn Ordinance and both in Obedience to Authority and also from an Act of choice we use this Gesture as a Token of profound Reverence to our most endearing Redeemer These are all the most considerable Pleas and Pretences which I have met with from Persons for the neglect of this Duty If what has been here said tend to the satisfaction of any and they are willing to address themselves to the practice of this long neglected Duty I shall next inform them what Preparation is necessary to fit them for it 5. And here know in General that the best Preparation for the Sacrament is a Holy Life a daily walking before God in the Holy Path of his Commandments in an uniform Compliance with the Duties both of our General and Particular Callings exercising your selves daily in keeping a Conscience void of Offence both towards God and towards all Men. In short the habitual devotedness of the Soul to God accompanied with a steady resolution to continue stedfast in our Obedience to him all our days is such a Divine Temper as gives us an undoubted right to the Ordinance and is the best Qualification for it But more particularly you are to understand that besides our habitual Preparation by Repentance and the constant Endeavours of a Holy Life we ought to set some time apart for Actual Preparation tho' how much every Person ought to allot of his Time for that Work cannot precisely be determined some have more cause for it than others having long neglected themselves and their Duty Others have more Leisure and Freedom for it No man ought to come to the Sacrament without due Care and Preparation but God doth not expect so much time should be set apart for Solemn Preparation by a poor Servant as he does from a Rich Master Now a Christian 's actual Preparation for this Ordinance I take to consist in the practice of these five following Duties Examination Humilation Resolution Meditation Prayer and Supplication 1. Examine thy self according to St. Paul's Advice 1 Cor. 11.28 For we stand too near our selves to see our Failings without great Observation Take therefore the Candle of the Word into thy hand to search thy Heart and examine thy Life by Particularly examine 1. What good there is in thee what Knowledge to discern the Lord's Body and to understand the Nature Use and End of the Lord's Supper What Faith to apply the Merits of his Death to thy own Soul What Love to thy Saviour's Person Precepts Promises People to every one that has the Image of Christ upon him What Repentance and Godly Sorrow dost thou find in thy Soul for Sin What Care every day to mortifie it and to die daily more and more unto it 2. Examine what Evil is in Thee and has been done by Thee See and be sensible of the sinfulness of thy Nature of the Sins of thy Heart and Life of thy Omissions of Good and Commissions of Evil of thy Sins against God and thy Neighbour in Heart Word or Deed And tho' it be impossible upon thy utmost search to find out all it will be a good Evidence of thy Sincerity that thou art not willing to hide any 2. Having by Examination found out thy Sins fall down upon thy Knees in Confession and Humiliation before God bewailing manifold Sins ond Wickedness which thou from time to time hast most grievously committed by Thought Word and Deed against his Divine Majesty Labour earnestly to repent and to be unfeignedly sorry for these thy misdoings beg of God that the remembrance of Sin may be bitter to thy Soul and the burthen of it be intolerable plead with him to forgive Thee all that is past and to give thee his Grace that thou mayst ever hereafter serve and please Him in newness of Life to the Honour and Glory of his Holy Name This done before thou arisest from thy Knees 3. Renew thy Resolutions for a Holy Life Vow to be more watchful more careful and circumspect for the time to come say with holy David Psal 119.106 I have sworn and will perfarm that I will keep thy righteous Judgments And be sure when you resolve against your Sins that you resolve against all Temptations which lead to Sin he that resolves against Drunkenness and Swearing must resolve to avoid wicked Company which draw him to that excess and to pass by the Door where he is wont to
Principles of our Religion necessary to be known and Believed by all Persons in Order to their Everlasting Salvation are these four I. Concerning God II. Concerning Man III. Concerning Jesus Christ the Mediator between God and Man IV. Concerning the way and means to obtain Salvation by Christ the only Mediatour I. Concerning GOD. It is necessary to Know and Believe the following Severals Namely That God is an Infinite Invisible and Immortal Spirit without Bodily Parts or Passions Almighty All-knowing every where present most Wise and Holy most Just and Righteous most Good and Gracious The following Scriptures will Confirm your Belief of the Truth of this viz. St. John 4.24 God is a Spirit St. Luke 24 39. A Spirit hath not flesh and bones Exod 34. v. 6 7. The Lord passed by and proclaimed his Name the Lord God gracious and merciful long-suffering abundant in Goodness and Truth 2. That there is but one true and ever-living God who being Oone in Nature is yet Three in Person namely the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost each Person having his proper Part and Office in the Salvation of lost Sinners namely the Father as the Original and Fountain the Son as the Manager and Transacter of it and the Holy Ghost as the Applier and Sealer of it See the following Scriptures Deut. 6.4 The Lord thy God is one Lord 1 John 5.7 There are three that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these Three are One St. John 15.26 But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of truth which preceedeth from the Father he shall Testifie of me Eph. 4.30 Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the Day of Redemption 3. That this ever-living and only living Lord God by his Almighty Power and Infinite Wisdom Created the World and all things therein out of nothing and by his effectual Providence doth sustain and preserve them in being and doth likewise govern and dispose of all things to his own glory Nehem. 9. v. 6. Thou art Lord alone who hast made the Heavens and the Heaven of Heavens with all their host the Earth and all things that are therein and thou preservest them all II. Concerning Man We are to Know and Believe 1. That Almighty God Created Man Adam after his own Image which consisted in Knowledge Righteousness and true Holiness giving him an holy Law for the Rule of his Obedience with Power to keep it and a Promise of Life upon Condition of keeping it see Gen. 1.27 So God created Man in his own Image in the Image of God created he him Eccles 7.29 This only have I found that God made man Upright 2. That Man Adam being Created in an Holy State yet in a mutable Condition and under a possibility of falling being tempted by Satan and left to the freedom of his own Will did actuall fall from his Estate of Innocency and Integrity into a State of Sin and Misery Gen. 3.6 And when the Woman saw that the Tree was good for Food and pleasant to the Eye she took thereof and did Eat and gave also unto her Husband and he did eat Eccles 7.29 God hath made Man upright but he hath found out many Inventions 3. That by reason of Man's Fall his Nature is wholly Corrupted with Original Sin which is the Seed and Root of all other Sins derived upon us by Natural Generation whereby we are disabled to that which is spiritually Good and inclined to that which is Evil and sinful Gen. 5.3 And Adam begat a Son in his own likeness after his Image Psal 51.5 Behold I was shapen in-iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me Rom. 8. v. 8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God 4. That every Man doth further fall into manifold Actual Sins in the daily Course of his Life transgressing every one of God's holy Commandments either in Thought Word or Deed see Eccles 7. v. 20. There is not a just Man upon Earth that doeth good and sinneth not Rom. 3. v. 10 23. There is not one righteous man no not one for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God 5. That the Punishment due to every sin is Death and Hell all Miserie 's Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Rom. 6.23 The Wages of Sin is Death 2 Thes 1.9 They shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and from the glory of his Power 6. That Almighty God pitying the deplorable Misery of our fallen Estate has found out a Way and appointed a Means for our Deliverance from the Power and Punishment of Sin by a Mediator and Redeemer Titus 3. v. 4 5 6. After that the Kindness and Love of God our Saviour towards Man appeared according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Ghost III. Concerning Christ the Mediator between God and Man We ought to Know and Believe 1. That Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God the second Person in the Trinity is the only Redeemer of lost Man and the only Mediator betwixt God and Man from whom alone we are to expect Life and Salvation 1 Tim. 2.5 There is one God and one Mediator betwixt God and Man the Man Christ Jesus Acts 4.12 Neither is there Salvation in any other for there is no other Name given under Heaven by whom we must be saved 2. That Jesus Christ our Redeemer was both God and Man having two Natures in one Person a Divine Nature as he was God and an Humane Nature as Man in which Humane Nature he suffered for Sinners and in his Divine Nature satisfied the Justice of God for sin Acts 20.28 Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Blood Heb. 10. v. 10. By the which Will we are sanctified thro' the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all 3. That Christ our Redeemer having taken upon him our Nature lived here upon Earth about three and thirty Years and did in our stead and for our sin give full Satisfaction to the Justice of his Father by enduring most grievous Torments in his Soul and by undergoing most painful Sufferings in Body was Crucified Dyed and was Buryed and by his Death did Conquer Sin and Satan Death and Hell Read the 26th and 27th Chapters of St Matthew which give a large Account of our Saviour's Sufferings 4. That Jesus Christ on the third Day Arose again from the Dead with the same Body in which he suffered with which Body also he Ascended into Heaven and sitteth there at the right hand of his Father to intercede for us and by his Intercession in Heaven making Application of that Redemption which he wrought on Earth from whence at the End of the World he shall come again to Judg both Men and Devils and to determine their Final and Eternal State see Rom.
come 3. Let Secret Prayer by your self alone be constantly performed before the Work of the Day be Undertaken It is much better to go from Prayer to Business than from Business to Prayer in regard of the Minds freedom from Distracting Thoughts Because also if the World gets the Start of Religion in the Morning 't is hard for Religion to Overtake the World all the Day after 4. Let Family Worship be performed constantly and seasonably at that Hour which is freest in regard of Interruption and look that it be Reverently and Spiritually performed Call not then for the Cushion when there is more need of the Pillow 5. Then set about and follow the Labours of your Calling with Diligence and Industry He that says Be servent in Prayer says also Be not slothful in Business Rom. 12. and let the Day be spent in your Calling watchfully watching your Company you converse with and the Corruption which you find stirring in you but especially Watch against those Temptations which the Company you are with the Place you are in or the Work and Calling you are about may expose you to or lay you under 6. When about your Calling if alone improve the Time in fruitful Meditation and holy Ejaculations or short Prayers which are no Hindrance at all to your Worldly Business if in Company in such profitable Discourse as may tend to make thy self and others both Wiser and Better 7. In doing your Duty in the Labours of your Calling humbly depend upon God's Fatherly Care for a Comfortable Subsistence for thy self and Family and Compose thy Mind in all Conditions of Life to a quiet and steady Dependance on the Divine Providence being anxiously Careful for nothing but casting all your Care upon him that Careth for you 8. Heedfully Observe all the Passages of Divine Providence daily both towards thy self and others and those Providential Dispensations which thou canst not thoroughly understand awfully Admire 9. In all Places and in all Companies remember the Presence of God and walk continually as under the View of his All-seeing and Observing Eye Often consider that God is every where Present and then you will study to be every where Holy 10. Walk every day with an high Esteem of the preciousness swiftness and irrecoverableness of your Time and resolve to spend it in Nothing which you dare not Pray for a Blessing upon in nothing which you know must be Repented of before you Dye in Nothing which you would not be found doing if Death should surprize you in the doing of it 11. Look every Day to the faithful Discharge of the respective Duties of your several Relations as Husbands and Wives Parents and Children Masters and Servants and remember that much of the Life and Power of Religion consists in the Conscientious Practice of Relative Duties 12. In the Evening retire and take a View of your Actions the Day past Examine what good you have either done or received and bewail it as a Day lost in which you have not either Profited others or Advantaged your self CHAP. IV. Of Glorifying God in our Natural Actions viz. in our Eating Drinking and Sleeping IT is the Advice of the Holy Apostle 1. Cor. 10.31 That whether we Eat or Drink or whatever we do to do all to the Glory of God plainly implying that a Christian ought to perform his Natural Actions to spiritual Purposes and whilst he is feeding his Body must have an Eye at his Serving of God Eating and and Drinking to the satisfying of our Natures and not to the gratifying of our Lusts Our lawful Comforts without Watchfulness become our greatest Snares The first Sin that ever was committed entered the World by Eating Our first Parents pleased their Appetites to their Ruine which ought to make their Posterity afraid of all sinful Excesses to prevent which let the following Rules be remembred and observed 1. Raise not any perplexing Scruples about what you are to Eat and Drink to no purpose but only to your own Vexation Remember Christ has taken away that Distinction of Meats Clean and Unclean which was of old amongst the Jews and has given us a liberty of feeding upon all the good Creatures of God with Temperance and Sobriety 1 Tim. 4.4 Every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with Thanksgiving Which hints a second Rule 2. Look that your Meat and Drink be blest and sanctified to you by Prayer and Tanksgiving Sit not down to your Food as a Beast to his Fodder without taking any Notice of the Hand that provides it for you Our Meat doth not Nourish us by its own Power but by Divine Appointment and therefore our Blessed Saviour tho' he was Lord of the Creatures yet did not sit down to feed on them before he lookt up to Heaven for a Blessing upon them St. Mark 6.41 Remember that the Creatures on your Table are God's Creatures and if you Convert them to your own Use without asking God's Leave you are bold Usurpers 3. Eat and Drink as in the Presence and View of God We are most apt to forget God at our Meals feeding our selves without fear Now the Remembrance of God's Eye upon us will Remedy this It is a memorable Expression which you have in Exod. 18. v. 12. And Aron and all the Elders of Israel came to eat Bread with Moses Father-in-law before God Where Observe 1. The Greatness of their Courtesie 2. The Graciousness of their Carriage Their Courtesie was great tho' Jethro was a Stranger and no Isralite yet the Elders of Israel honoured him with their Company and their Carriage was gracious they came to eat Bread with him before God that is in gloriam honorem Dei says one to the Honour and Glory of God They received their Sustenance as in God's sight and caused their Provision to tend to God's Praise 4. Remember that Reason and not Appetite is to be our Guide and Rule both for the Quantity and Quality of our Meat and Drink Not what Appetite likes best but what Reason and Judgment tells you is best ought to be received by you Meat and Drink have destroyed more thousands than ever Poyson did because persons are not so fearfull of these as they are of that If the Brute Creatures at any time eat or drink to any Degree of Excess it is to satisfie their Nature not to gratifie their Lusts But what an Abominable shame is it for Man instead of being governed by Reason to be inslaved by his Lust and to have his sensitive Appetite command his Rational Faculty 5. Take heed of making thy Table a Snare either to thy self or others This is done two ways 1. When our Meals are Incentives to Sin and our Food is made Fewel for our Lusts the Flesh is an Enemy too strong for us when we take away its Armour and fight against it but much more so when we our selves put weapons into its hand and provide it
thy self and others the Benefit of thy attendance on him in holy Duties 4. Labour to preserve Family-peace if you would acceptably perform Family-Prayers agree together in Love that your Prayers be not hindred This is certain that Religion and the power of Holiness can never thrive or prosper in that Family where discord and contention dwells you may as well hope to Live together comfortably in an house on fire as pray together acceptably when your Spirits are inflamed with passion or imbitter'd with prejudice one against another nay verily the Body may as well thrive in a Feaver as such a Family grow in Grace As the fire in the Bones must be quenched and the Body brought to its natural temper and disposition before it can thrive and grow healthy so these unkindly heats must be quencht in a Family before Religion can thrive or prosper That Family will be unsuccessful in praying that is much squabling and brawling often contending with and clashing against one another 5. Take heed of setting up Family-Worship in opposition to Publick Worship or to suffer the one to interfere with the other We can say our Prayers say some in the Chimny-corner what need we go to Church to do it But at this rate all sense of God and Religion will be utterly lost in the World and is not this the Communion of Saints and the Fellowship of Holy Christians a priviledge worth thy prizing How does the presence of Devout Souls sometimes fire and inflame our cold Spirits and cause them to grow into greater Ardours and Transports of Zeal Thus the Divine Herbert sweetly expresses it Though Private Prayer be a brave Design Yet Publick hath more Promises more Love c. Leave there thy Six and Seven To pray with most for where most pray is Heaven God allows you time both for Publick-Worship and Family-Duties he expects the joint performance of both from you Let Piety and Prudence so Guide and Direct you in the management of both that God may be Glorified and your Souls improved by both 6. Let not the sense of thine own weakness or want of Gifts and Parts c. discourage thee from the daily performance of this Duty of Praying in and with thy Family but in Obedience to God set about it in the best manner thou art able and he will pardon thy weakness and accept thy sincerity It is not enlarged Parts and Gifts and Florid Expressions that Almighty God looks at but an Humble Penitent Broken and Believing Heart In Prayer it is not the quaint Note of the Nightingal but the Mournful Tone of the Dove that finds the best acceptance Study your Sins your Wants and Mercies and get a sense of all these upon your Hearts and you will be able in some measure to express your desires to Almighty God But if after all the want of suitable Expressions do discourage thee from Praying before others in thy Family make use of some of those many good Books of Devotion which are amongst us Or if you have none of them and are so poor that you cannot purchase them make use of the following Words to express your Family-wants in to Almighty God Morning and Evening A Family Prayer for the Moning OH Eternal Ever-Glorious Ever-Gracious and Merciful Lord our God! Thou fillest the Heavens with thy Glory the Earth with thy Goodness and all places with the immensity of thy Presence We pray Thee fill our Hearts with awful Apprehensions of thy Great and Glorious Majesty that whenever we come before Thee we may Sanctify thy Name in all our Religious Addresses to Thee We Holily Admire and Humbly Adore thy Divine Goodness towards us in this Invaluable Priveledge of our Admission to the Throne of Grace which our dear Redeemer has purchased for us by Faith in whose Mediation it is that we offer up our Prayers and Suplications now unto Thee beseeching thee for his satisfaction sake to pardon our Iniquities and for his Intercession sake to hear our Prayers It is oh Lord the sincere desire of our Souls this Morning to give Glory to thy Name by a free Penitent Acknowledgment and Confession of our Sin and Guilt which has rendred us All justy lyable and Obnoxious to thy Wrath and Curse Particularly We lament before God the want of the Original Purity and Perfection of our Natures the loss of thy Divine Image which was Instampt upon our Souls in their first Creation Oh how have we by our Apostacy from God forefeited his favour and lost his likeness being by Nature Children of Wrath because Children of Disobedience Help us also to lye low at thy foot in a Sorrowful fight and sense of the manifold Actual Transgressions and Provocations of our Lives Humble us greatly for all the Follies and Indecencies of our Childhood for the Vanities of our Youth and the sinfulness of our Riper Years for our Sins of Ignorance and of Knowledge of Weakness and of Wilfulness of Omission and of Commission against thy Law and against thy Gospel against the motions of thy Holy Spirit and the checks of our own Consciences We lament and bewail them all in thy presence they are our grief and our shame and the burthen of our Souls God Almighty pardon them unto us blot them out of thy Book bury them in our Saviours Grave that they may never arise more either in this World to shame us or in the World to come to condemn us And as we humbly implore thy Pardoning Mercy for the Errors of our Life past so we do Importunately begg the Aids of thy Divine Grace to impower us against the Dominion of Sin for the time to come let the Grace of God which has appeared to us in thy Gospel Teach every one of us practically to deny all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to Live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World And God Almighty keep it in the purpose of our hearts for ever to continue faithful to him that with full purpose of heart we may cleave unto the Lord that continuing faithful to the Death we may lay hold of the Crown of Life Prepare and sit us for thy whole providential Will and Pleasure We pray thee Compose our Minds in all Conditions of Life to a quiet and steady dependance on thy Good Providence that we may be Solicitously carefull or nothing but in every condition by Prayer and Supplication let us make our Requests known to God Mind us of our Mortality and let us never be forgetful of our latter end help us practically to understand how frail we are and let us wisely prepare for that great change of ours which will Translate every Soul of us into an Unchangeable and Everlasting State Extend thy Goodness and Compassions to the whole World Pity the deplorable Ruines of Mankind think upon the dark Corners of the Earth that perish for want of Vision and where ever thou hast a Church planted perpetually watch over it and be a protection
of Interest For by a due Approach to our Lord's Table our Baptismal Vow is renewed our weak Faith strengthened our languishing Love inflam'd our Desires after Christ enlarg'd our Sorrow for Sin heightned fresh Power against and Victory over Sin obtained our present Joy and Comforts multiplied and our future hopes of Heaven advanced Oh how unkind then are they to their Saviour and also cruel to their own Souls who live all their days in the neglect of this engaging uniting quickning confirming Ordinance of the Lord's Supper whom all the melting Entreaties and passionate Importunities of the Ministers of Christ could never prevail upon to the practice of this most Reasonable and most Advantagious Duty 3. But let us hear the several Pleas and Pretences which so many Thousands of Persons tho' professing Christianity do make for this notorious neglect of their dying Lord's Command 1. Plea or Excuse made by some is the extraordinary Dread and Solemnity of the Ordinance these put their Saviour off with a Complement telling him that the Privilege is too great the dignity too high and the Ordinance too solemn for them to approach unto Answer This is a good Reason why you should approach the Ordinance with Preparation and Care but no Argument at all why you should turn your back upon it As if a King should invite and command you to pay Attendance at Court upon his Person and you very gravely tell him That is too high an Honour for Persons of your Rank you will therefore out of Reverence to his Person violate his Precept and at once Affront his Authority and Contemn his Kindness Know then that the Reverence which our Saviour expects to his Holy Institution is a Reverence of Obedience That man has a due sense upon his Mind of the Solemnity of the Sacrament who is careful to approach it with all the Humility and sense of Unworthiness which becomes polluted Dust and Ashes but such a superstitious sort of Reverence as makes men afraid of doing their Duty is dishonouring to God and detrimental to themselves 2. Plea Is that of Unworthiness We are unworthy to come and therefore afraid to come For he that eateth unworthily eats his own Damnation therefore we will be of the safest side and prevent coming Unworthily by keeping away and not coming at all Answer 1. There is a two-fold Worthiness in reference to the Sacrament A Worthiness of Merit and a Worthiness of Meetness if by being worthy you mean the former a worthiness of Merit by which you deserve to be Entertained at Christ's Table in that sense not only the Holiest Saint on Earth but the highest Angel in Heaven is unworthy of this Priviledge But then there is a worthiness of Meetness which imports such a fitness and preparation of Soul as the Gospel requires and Christ will accept A Begger is not worthy of your Alms yet you would not account it Humility but Pride in him to refuse your Alms when entreated to accept them upon pretence of being unworthy of them The Truth is an humble sense of our unworthiness is in God's Account our greatest worthiness 2. Whereas thou pleasest thy self that thou art on the safest side by keeping away from the Ordinance this is a manifest mistake because the guilt and danger of unworthy Refusing is certainly as great or greater than the danger of unworthy Receiving For not to come at all is a bold Affront to the Authority of Christ a mighty contempt of the love of Christ 't is the casting off the Profession of Christianity 't is a Renouncing of the Communion of Saints and a quitting all claim and interest in the Covenant of Grace Did they in the Gospel who made light of Christ's Invitation to the Marriage-Supper escape any better than he that came without the Wedding-Garment Were they not both destroyed they for their Disobedience and he for his Disrespect 3. Plea Is that of Unfitness and Unpreparedness My Conscience tells me says the Sinner that I am unfit to come to this Ordinance and therefore I had better stay away Answer 1. Whose fault is it that thou art unfit It must be either God's fault or thy own Canst thou dare'st thou say 't is God's fault when he is willing both to Assist and Accept thee when he offers thee his Assisting Grace but thou art not willing to accept it But what is it that makes thee unfit Is it not some Sin that you are not willing to part with Does not Conscience tell you that you live a bad Life that there are some sensual Lusts which you indulge and are not willing to part with This is that which makes you unfit to come and afraid to come 2. If you are unfit for this Ordinance you are not fit to die you pretend you must stay all the days of your Life till you are prepared for the Sacrament but will Death stay for you till you are prepared for that When Death calls appear you must at God's Tribunal whether fit or not fit Now what is it that prepares you for Death Is it not the exercise of Repentance and a Holy Life This will fit you for the Sacrament and without this you can never be fit for Heaven nor hope to come there 3. Speak sincerely Did you ever go about to make your self fit Didst thou ever spend a day in thy Closet in searching for and finding out thy Sins in Confessing and Bewailing of them in Resolving against them in praying earnestly to God for the Aid of his Grace to enable you to mortifie and subdue them Did ever you repair to your Minister and desire his Assistance in fitting you for the Ordinance If not which is certainly the very case of many Good Good what horrid Hypocrisie is this to offer it as a reasonable excuse that thou art unfit when thou didst never in thy whole life once attempt or endeavour to make thy self fit Unfit thou art not only for the Sacrament but for every holy Duty also unfit to Pray unfit to Hear and unfit thou wilt be for ever without thy own Endeavours to make thy self fit For Almighty God never wrought a Miracle to maintain Sloath. If thou sayest thou canst do nothing without God I Reply That God will do nothing without thee use a Faithful Endeavour to prepare thy self and thy God will both assist thee and accept thee also but it is great folly to think of excusing one fault with another 4. Plea Alas say some we are poor ignorant Creatures we were never Book-learnt and therefore want the Knowledge which is requisite in a Worthy Communicant Answer 1. If thou art wholly and grosly ignorant in the Fundamentals of Religion thy Ignorance is dangerous and damnable such as will shut thee out of Heaven as well as debar thee from the Sacrament But why dost thou rest contented with thy Ignorance Why do you not repair to your Spiritual Guides for private Instruction who would thank you for such an